Talking to Adam Granduciel of the War on Drugs About His New Album, Lost in the Dream

For the last nine years, Adam Granduciel has been writing songs as the War on Drugs, turning out music that evokes the glory-days Springsteen and Neil Young era of classic rock. He channels Bob Dylan as much as he does Tom Petty, as well as former collaborator Kurt Vile (Vile was a cofounder of the War on Drugs, and Granduciel has played in Vile’s band). Lost in the Dream, out today, marks the War on Drugs’ third full-length album—one that stemmed from a particularly troubled and anxious period, which Granduciel owns up to. But for over a year, he obsessively wrote and rerecorded in studios from his adopted city of Philadelphia to North Carolina (“I can hear the magic in different rooms,” he says), alone and with his band, eventually creating a record of stunning, risky, textural songs like the nine-minute opener, “Under the Pressure,” sequenced alongside melancholy, orchestral numbers like “Suffering” or “In Reverse” that haunt long after they fade out. Soaring guitars mix with synths, slide guitars, even sax solos (those strong Springsteen echoes). The result is deep and big-hearted, a repeat-listen kind of record, and this week the band kicks off a spring tour with three sold-out shows in New York. Granduciel spoke to Vogue.com about the dark origins of the album, learning to know when enough is enough, and the quest for a killer denim jacket.

The songs on Lost in the Dream came out of a pretty dark time for you, but they have such a big sound; many of them seem hopeful, they contain a kind of joy.It was the way I was seeing my life then, everything: my friends, turmoil, and confusion . . . you know, the fun stuff.

But it was also writing about writing. The act of writing about this anxious stuff was bringing up anxiety; the act of making the record was making me anxious. I don’t know how it is for people who write fiction or literature, but for me, when I’m writing music, especially with this album, I felt compelled to hold up my end of the conversation. I want people to connect deeper with it. I want it to be better than the last record. I have a responsibility: If it’s lacking, it doesn’t feel honest.

You’re known for being a heavy reviser of songs, sometimes even scrapping everything you’ve recorded over and going back to the original track. Do you feel like it’s a question of learning when to go with your first instincts?I was conscious of possibly not knowing when enough was enough, of not knowing when to be able to let things just be beautiful. I wanted to be able to see what it was in the moment. So much of all this is connected to the mood, the vibe, getting to the heart of things. Even if I think I know when it sounds great, it has to sound right: I’m conscious of making it more me. . . I try to make it hi-fidelity but not lose the initial spark.

How has your approach to songwriting changed over the years?I’ve gotten much more disciplined. With Slave Ambient, I was writing things on top of loops. Now I really get the structure of the song down, but I leave room for improvisation in the studio. My whole process now is more about chopping than it is cutting and pasting. A lot of things happen in the moment, and I try to isolate all those beautiful moments of “hey.”

With “Under the Pressure,” I just found two chords I liked, and built it up, did like a ten-minute drum pattern. With others, it might start with piano, flesh it out, add a little drum machine so I can have a beat to work with. Then I improvise lyrics, things I could never write looking at a blank page, things that surprise me. With the “Lost in the Dream” lyrics, they just came out and I thought, Wow, I could never have uttered those on a page.

Since this is for Vogue, we should probably talk clothes. You’ve had some interesting merch, from the T-shirt takeoff on the NBA logo to the sort of bizarre polo-style hats your dad designed for Slave Ambient. Did your dad (who’s designed some of your merch in the past) create anything for this tour?Not this time around, but yeah, he did those hats, very limited edition; I think there might be a few floating around still. He was in the clothing business for years, selling stuff like Ellen Tracy and Perry Ellis.

I’d love to do denim merch sometime, though. That’s pretty much the mainstay of my wardrobe. I have a bunch of denim jackets I wear all the time. I have another one with these great soft, rugged pockets. I have an old Lee jacket with bottom cuffs. But I never stop looking. I have an eBay alert; I’m always on the hunt for the perfect denim jacket.

You were touring pretty incessantly a few years ago, both with the War on Drugs and as a member of Kurt’s band. What do you look forward to, what do you dread, what do you do to keep sane?I’m excited to play. The band’s never sounded better. The same dark way I approached writing the album is how I’m looking forward to touring: If I’m gonna go out, why not go out big?